Meet Victoria! A toddler experiencing a life filled with sound.
November 2020
Update: How you make a difference in the life of a child!
Victoria's story shared by her mom, Tania.
We counted our newborn's ten tiny fingers and toes. We looked into her bright,
beautiful eyes and fell in love with our baby girl, Victoria. We spoke softly
to her, not knowing our newborn could not — and might never — hear us speak her
name.
It would be three days after Victoria was born that the in-hospital
infant hearing screen would tell us something that we could not have prepared
for – Victoria likely couldn’t hear.
Without knowing how this would impact our little daughter, I grieved
for her unknown future and wondered how she would navigate her world.
But at KidsAbility we found...
Hope. An early assessment within days of leaving the hospital and a referral to
an audiologist confirmed the diagnosis of profound hearing loss. We were
devastated by the news, but now we understood the challenges Victoria had
before her.
Optimism. A complete assessment of Victoria’s needs and full consideration
given to our needs as a family meant we had a plan and a path to follow.
Confidence. A professional and supportive team meant we had found an extended family in
those who cared as deeply for her as we did.
We learned
Victoria was an ideal candidate for cochlear implants — a device surgically
placed under the skin behind each ear that
would give her access to the sound she truly needed. Unlike her tiny
hearing aids, which only amplified sound, the implant would bypass the damaged
parts of her ear and send electronic signals directly along the auditory nerve
to her brain.
Now the real work could begin!
Victoria’s
therapy team was there to help us navigate her journey and explore life with sound! She first
learned to listen. And as she did, listening came naturally. Along with her
older brothers, we helped with the words she was trying to say. She quickly
understood. Her voice emerged. What began as unrecognizable sounds have, with
time and practice, transformed into words strung together like: “Thank you,
let’s go, ho ho ho and hug.”
As you can imagine, speech therapy
looks a little different for Victoria at the moment.
Like you,
our family is feeling the effects of the pandemic with a growing toddler.
Victoria’s in-person appointments have changed to virtual therapy visits. Heather,
her Speech-Language Pathologist, must work differently to keep Victoria’s
attention engaged with videos and computer games to grow her vocabulary. As
parents, we must work differently to reduce the distractions at home. But we
see deep value in KidsAbility as we all work together to set new goals and next
steps.
Thank you for the extraordinary support you continue to provide to families like mine when we've needed KidsAbility most.
Tania, Victoria's mom
A Note from Lisa Talbot, Executive Director, KidsAbility Foundation:
For so many other families like Victoria's, access to a team
of expert therapists and a wide range of innovative programs and critical
resources is what they need to believe in a brighter future.
You can make therapy possible for more kids who need it most. Your gift today will support life-changing therapy,
innovative programs and the latest technology for children and youth achieve
great things at home, at school and in the community.
Thank you for building brighter futures.